Wade Kitner, a Ventura, Iowa fisherman, looks at the northern light as he fishes on Tuesday, June 23rd 2015. Wade Kitner looks at the northern lights while he fishes in Ventura, Iowa on Tuesday, June 23, 2015.
Just in time for Halloween, a fireworks display that has nothing to do the Fourth of July but everything to do the cosmos will be visible across the north United States and Europe.
The sun's "X-class solar flake" was launched on Thursday. It was strong enough for South America to experience a radio blackout at high frequencies. A cluster of solar plasma and another material, known as a coronal Mass Ejection (or CME), follows the energy from the flare. The energy from the flare is heading towards Earth, prompting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to warn of a possible strong geomagnetic storm.
This might sound like something out of a science-fiction movie. It's actually a sign that some northern parts of the country might be treated to the aurora borealis or Northern Lights.
As large as the geomagnetic storms that might be coming, it can cause displays of lights that can be seen at low latitudes like Pennsylvania, Oregon and Iowa. It can also cause voltage irregularities in high-latitude power grids due to loss of radio contact from the sunlit side.
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